This invention relates to a retainer or holder that secures a container in place, for example in a package, and to a method of packaging that uses the container holder. The holder is particularly useful for securing containers near their bottom in display packaging.
Previously, a bottle holder similar in appearance to that of this invention was known for securing a perfume bottle within a transparent package. The bottle holder had a peripheral flange affixed, by staplin for example, to the bottom of a transparent box, and a central, raised platform-like section to which the bottle was affixed. A raised ridge surrounded the bottom of the bottle, and a slight reduction in the height of the ridge at one location permitted a better indication of the volume that the bottle contained. The prior art bottle holder relied on glue, however.
In the prior art device, the ridge that located the bottle bottom in place surrounded an inner, planar bottom surface. The surface was a part of the same sheet plastic that formed the remainder of the holder. To this the bottle bottom was glued.
This prior art approach had several major disadvantages. To begin with, it was difficult to remove the bottle from the holder. Once removed, there would be a mass of glue, or worse still, a mass of glue and a torn away segment of the sheet plastic holder remaining on the bottom of the bottle. In the case of a perfume bottle to be placed on a dressing table, for example, the remains of the glue and packaging would need to be carefully picked or scraped away, or it would remain to detract from the desired aesthetic appearance. In either case, subsequent sales of an otherwise attractive product could suffer.